Thawing Frozen Hearts
by Cranky Kong
Summary: Distraught over the loss of a friend, Sora's resolve has been broken and he doubts himself worthy of even using the Keyblade. At the same time, the Mistress of Evil sets her sights upon Arendelle due to the strong concentration of fear in its queen. Can Sora stop her dastardly plans and quell the conflict within himself?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hello everyone. Cranky Kong here. This idea has been nagging in the back of my head for so long; I couldn't make any progress on my other stories until I at least started this one. Quick shout-out to Lady Tralalala for encouraging me to add more to the Frozen fandom. And let me welcome you to my very first crossover fic. But before it begins, my new sidekick shall establish the setting.

**Rose's note: That's CO-WRITER! Anyway, this story is how Cranky imagined a Frozen world would be in Kingdom Hearts 3. As this is after Dream Drop Distance, Sora has failed his Mark of Mastery and nearly become one of Master Xehanort's Thirteen Darknesses. These combined with several attacks on his psyche have shattered our hero's usual confidence. Now, he attempts to seal as many worlds as he can find in preparation for Xehanort's assault. And tries to resolve the conflict within himself.**

**(**Chapter 1)

"_So it was you. You're the one who turned Tron into Rinzler!"_

"_Correct. I had to repurpose his code."_

"_Well, un-repurpose it!"_

"_Under the right parameters, I might. You have an item called a Keyblade, correct? Which can open any lock? Hand it over, and I'll change Rinzler back into Tron."_

_The boy stared at his weapon, then at his corrupted ally, "The Keyblade? I…I can't. This is what lights the darkness. A chance to make everyone happy."_

"_Flawed reasoning. I'll have to take it by force." CLU gestured at Rinzler to attack, then departed._

_Sora remembered everything: every crack and dent his Key made against Rinzler's armor, the burning pain of the program's disks against his flesh, and feeling as if his heart would shatter every moment he fought his friend. Finally, he'd used a limit, Setup, the same one he'd done with Tron against the MCP two years ago. The move had worked, and his opponent, injured but still alive, had fallen to the ground. But their brief peace was shattered when CLU attacked, hurling his disk towards the user's back. Sora suddenly felt himself being shoved sideways and saw Rinzler deflect the attack. The disk ricocheted off a nearby wall and smashed into the ground beneath him. With nothing to hold him up, the program fell to his death, just missing Sora's outstretched arm. _

"TRON!" The boy started awake, panting from terror. He'd had the nightmare again for the third time in a month. Pounding his fist into the pillow, he squeezed his eyes shut in a futile attempt to banish the memories.

_I couldn't save him. He was right in front of me, and I couldn't save him! I failed a friend._

All of his fears and doubts began to surface at once. He'd failed the Mark of Mastery; he wasn't strong enough to keep the Xehanorts from putting him to sleep; and the Keyblade hadn't really chosen him. In that moment, the boy was struggling to hold back tears. What saved him however, was the Gummi Ship's siren.

"Sora?" Donald's voice filtered over the loudspeaker, "we're approaching our next world and need you to help guide the ship down.

"R-right, on my way." After a quick change of clothes, he rushed to the cockpit. Dwelling on the past wouldn't help now, he had to focus on the present. The new world needed to be sealed with the Keyblade in case Xehanort tried to plunge it into darkness. Besides, Tron would have wanted him to press on and ensure no one else suffered his fate. "So guys, where are we landing?"

"According to the scanner, the world's keyhole is located in the kingdom of…Arendelle."

(Within said kingdom)

It was chaos. Total chaos. The coronation of the kingdom's queen had gone terribly wrong. The queen had accidently unleashed a storm of frost magic that had encased the whole courtyard in ice and fled into the mountains. The love and admiration upon her subjects' faces had been replaced with fear and uncertainty, which had only intensified when the summer sun gave way to a brisk snowfall. No one knew what to say or do, and everyone was afraid. The Mistress of Evil drank it all in. Why, there hadn't been this much negativity in the air since she'd cast her spell upon Aurora so long ago. To think that one woman was the source of it all; one woman could whip them all into a frenzy. Such power even rivaled her own. Maleficent had to take advantage of this. With that much fear in her heart, the girl was already halfway to becoming a Heartless. With a smirk upon her lips, the evil fairy vanished in a swirl of green fire. The time of her vengeance was near. 

(End of Chapter)

A/N: When I first saw the outcome of the Rinzler fight in Dream Drop Distance, I was floored. It was the first time I'd seen Sora experience a true failure in one of the Disney worlds instead of getting a happy ending for everyone. Not to mention his first experience with death (not just losing your heart, but honest to goodness death). I figured that he wouldn't forget that for a long time.

**R/N: As for what that has to do with Frozen…just know that there is a connection. But you'll have to wait and see.**


	2. Two Broken Birds

A/N: All right. So you've stuck with me for another round. Thank you. Anyway, if I was going to make this work, I had to go a bit off-script from the movie. Mainly because there were aspects of the film that, while good, were not compatible with the game. Before you say anything, know that KH has done this before in canon. Particularly with Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and Space Paranoids.

**R/N: What he means is that Hans and Kristoph won't be appearing here. We're trying to keep the story centered around the two sisters, and too many characters will impede the process. Another problem with Hans is because since his villainy isn't revealed until the third act, he would have had to be written with a more active role in the story to perpetuate the conflict. And we couldn't figure out how do that without him giving himself away to the protagonists. I mean, the last thing we want is to hit them with the idiot stick just to keep the plot plausible. Anyway, on with the show.**

(Chapter 2)

The trio's Gummi Ship landed on the kingdom's outskirts; they were careful to avoid attracting attention to themselves.

"So, what's the plan, Sora?" Goofy started to give his buddy a pat on the back but was stopped by an unexpected glare.

"The 'plan' is: we find the keyhole, seal it, and then leave as soon as possible."

His companions stared at each other. This wasn't like their friend at all. "That's all? Shouldn't we make sure everyone's okay?"

Sora clenched his fist and deliberately avoided making eye contact, "That's not our problem anymore. We need to stick to the mission."

"What?!"

"Come on. We're wasting time." He practically sprinted down the walkway. Donald and Goofy exchanged concerned looks once again, and then slowly followed him.

_They don't understand. No one understands. I can't hurt anyone else._

Now outside the ship, the three took in their surroundings. To the north was a forest of evergreen trees leading to some mountains in the distance. To the east, was what appeared to be a harbor, but the water was frozen solid. And southward, which was where they were facing, was a town leading up to a castle. Not wanting to be caught off guard by any Heartless, Sora summoned his Keyblade…or rather _tried_ to. The weapon began to form beneath his hand but dissipated away when he closed his hand around it. He tried again, concentrating harder. This time, it formed all the way, but he could feel something pulling on it, trying to drag it out of his grip.

_What's this? Don't tell me you're leaving too?_

The tug disappeared almost as quickly as it had come, and the blade settled into his hand once more. The other two had noticed his short struggle but didn't say anything to avoid riling him up even further. After a moment, Sora, Donald, and Goofy began the trek to the town in complete silence.

The town itself was in a state of unrest. Chunks of snow and ice were scattered everywhere, and one of the fountains had turned completely to ice. Asking around for more info proved fruitless: no one understood enough of what had happened to explain. Fortunately though, the guards were so busy trying to restore order that the three were able to slip inside the castle undetected.

"Hey, look at all this stuff. Were they having some kinda party?"

"I guess. But where is everybody?"

"They're gone," said a voice, "they're all afraid of my sister." A woman was sitting alone at one of the dining tables. From the way she kept sniffing and rubbing her face, they could tell she'd been crying.

"Who are you?" asked the boy, "and why is everyone afraid?"

Despite being flustered, the woman tried her best to look presentable, "I am Princess Anna of Arendelle. My sister Elsa is the queen."

"Did she cause all this ice?"

"She did. My sister was born with incredible ice powers. But somewhere along the line, she lost control; and now, her powers are causing a blizzard during the summer."

"Where'd she go?"

"Last I saw, she was running north."

Sora spoke without thinking, "Then why didn't you go after her?"

She began to cry again, "B-because she d-doesn't want anything to do with me anymore! She just locks herself away from everyone! And…and…it's my fault she caused the storm!"

Caught off guard by her outburst, the Keywielder felt a knot form in his stomach. He did his best to calm the distressed girl before asking her what had happened. Through her tears, she told them of how during the coronation dance, Anna had been thrilled to finally mingle with the kingdom's citizens for the first time in forever. But her joy had turned to sadness when Elsa had told her that things couldn't stay like that, and that the iron gates that kept everyone out would be closed again by the end of the day. Frustrated by her sister's callousness, Anna had taken off one of Elsa's gloves, and the resulting explosion of anger and fear ended with giant icicles piercing through the floor. Her secret revealed, the Queen had fled into the mountains, leaving a devastated Princess behind.

The emotional strain from recalling these events had driven Anna into near-hysterics, and she left the room to try to calm down. The three looked at each other.

Donald spoke first, "Do you think we should try and help?"

As the boy turned to face his friends, he felt the knot in his stomach tighten. "Listen guys. We…we need to focus on the main problem at hand. In the past, the Keyhole usually appears when a danger to the land is removed. So, I think that stopping this winter will make it appear."

"So that means, we need to find Queen Elsa."

Goofy offered his input, "Maybe Anna can help us. She knows her sister better than any of us, so she could calm her sister down when we find her."

The knot tightened even further; now it was causing the boy physical pain, "But that's just it, guys. What if we get attacked by the Heartless or the Nobodies, and she can't defend herself? Or if one of the Xehanorts targets her for leverage? Then we'd be stuck trying to protect her and fight at the same time." The "what ifs" were coming in force now; Sora started panicking. "M-my point is…my point is she can't come with us."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"I said she can't come with us. She'd just be a burden to the three of us."

Donald and Goofy tried to protest. As long as they'd known the Keywielder, he'd never said anything like that! He would make friends with everyone he met one moment and then protect them with his life in the next. To them, Sora not making friends was like The King not caring about Queen Minnie anymore. Both of them tried to say as much but were silenced by their comrade's glare. Without another word, he marched back outside the castle, intending to find a mode of transportation for them.

_They don't understand. I can't make any more friends. I can't watch anyone else get hurt._

He clenched his fist; and had anyone been looking at him in that moment, they would have seen his eyes briefly flash yellow.

Back inside the castle, Anna re-entered the dining room. Just outside the doorway, she had heard everything the three had said. But rather than cry again, the plucky young woman was determined to prove them wrong. Since everyone else was too afraid, the outsiders were her only chance at finding Elsa. After dressing in warmer clothes, she headed after them…completely unaware of the small raven watching her from the windowsill. After she left, the bird quickly flew off to report to its mistress.

_[Elsewhere_]

It was a true work of art. The Snow Queen had constructed a beautiful palace for herself. The strength and precision of such a feat made the Mistress of Evil covet the power even more. But behind that much raw talent was an emotionally fractured woman. The sorceress could feel the emotions within the castle leap back and forth from joy to sorrow. All it would take was a few simple nudges, and Elsa would crack like an egg. Maleficent took hold of the castle door's knocker in her right hand and her . It was time to begin this dance of deception.

THUNK! THUNK!

"Who's there?" The woman on the other side sounded surprisingly timid. The door opened partially.

"Fear not, milady," The evil fairy curtsied as best as she could, "I am no enemy of yours. I was taking a walk across the mountain when I happened upon this beautiful castle. As I had never seen anything like it, I felt compelled to find the creator of such beauty."

Not expecting such a complement, Elsa began to blush, "Well, uh, I made this actually," Opening her hand, she called forth a small cluster of flurries, "I was born with the power of frost."

"I see. And that power alone allowed you to create something like this?"

"Y-yes it did." Intrigued by the mysterious stranger, Elsa accidentally got too close and brushed against the other's cloak where several ice crystals began to form and spread across the garment. Immediately, she jerked backwards, covering herself with her arms. "Oh-no! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" The floor beneath her turned from blue to red, and cracks began to appear on the floor beneath her.

Maleficent held up a hand to calm the panicking Queen, "Again, fear not," and dispelled the ice with a wave of her hand.

Elsa was even more surprised, "You…have magic too?"

"Indeed, as do you. But you seem to lack proper finesse over yours. If you want, I could teach you the skills you need obtain full control over your powers."

The other woman turned away towards the balcony. It was so much to take in all at once. "I…I don't know. I'm not sure my power can be tamed at all."

The orb atop the Wicked One's staff began to glow a bright, sickly green; and when Elsa turned back towards her guest, the same green glow appeared in her eyes. Maleficent spoke slowly, not wanting to use the power of darkness any longer than she had to. Too strong of a command would cause unnecessary resistance. "Calm yourself, Milady. I am here to help."

"H-help?"

The glow reached its peak, "Yes. Don't worry: **Everything will be fine.**"

"**Everything will be…fine.**" Elsa repeated tonelessly.

"Will you accept my offer?"

"**Yes, I accept."**

The staff's color returned to normal. After a few more moments, the queen's eyes reverted as well. The Mistress of Evil now sensed the woman's growing trust towards her as well as hopefulness towards her new mentor.

_It's working perfectly. Give her a foundation, a taste of some precious hope and then dash it to pieces. With her strength added to my own, not even the Keywielder will be able to stand against me._

Maleficent inwardly grinned. Step one was complete.

_A/N: So now we have the reason Sora's acting differently than normal. And Maleficent's motive. Will Sora be able to work through his personal strife and save Elsa? And what about Anna? How will she fare in the never-ending winter? Stay tuned._

_UPDATE: Oops, sorry about that mess-up guys. I guess the document didn't past correctly._


	3. Darkness on the Horizon

A/N: Still trying to figure this out how to structure this thing. I think the reason I've having so much difficulty is that unlike Princess and the Frog or Wreck It Ralph, Frozen doesn't have a clearly defined antagonist until the last third of the film. Elsa's actions and conflict with Anna do drive the film, but she is by no means evil.

**Unfortunately, existential conflicts don't work very well in a game where a kid beats up sentient shadows with a giant key.**

(Chapter 3)

The first priority for the three travelers was to find a way to traverse the snowy terrain. But since it had been summer before the snow had started falling, that proved to be difficult; they ended paying an obscene amount of munny for a rickety, broken-down sleigh and somewhat malnourished horse before finally beginning their trek up the mountain. Sora was still very irritated about what had happened with the princess, so conversation was kept to a minimum. Not that it would have mattered since the cacophony in the boy's head drowned out everything else.

_Even if we do find the queen, how do I make her stop the winter?_

_What if Maleficent or the Xehanorts show up? _

_Will I even be able to stop her at all?_

_What if she turns out to be evil and I have to…._

"Arrgh! What is wrong with me?!" He banged his fist on the seat in front of him causing parts of it to crack and splinter. Two concerned glances from his companions made his gaze shoot down to the floor. Whatever they were going to say however, was interrupted by a deep growl. Suddenly alert, the boy scanned their surroundings; but due to the encroaching darkness of dusk, couldn't see very well.

"Goofy, please tell me that was your stomach."

"Uh-uh. Ya think there's someone out there?"

They heard it again, closer now and stared as hard as they could into the darkness. Donald spotted them first: a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

"Look out! WOLVES!"

All it took was one word to throw them all into a panic. The horse whinnied and sped up. Donald and Goofy both pulled out their weapons. Sora struggled with his own. It took three attempts to summon the Keyblade; and by then, the pack was upon them.

Their horse, frightened by the approaching beasts, fled through the forest with wild abandon, straining the reins in the process. The boy aimed a fire spell at the nearest wolf, but an ill-timed jerk of the sled threw off his aim. Another wolf lunged at him only to be fried by a thunder spell. Sora looked back to see Goofy grin at him and give him a thumbs-up sign before going back to fighting. After repulsing two more attacks, the wolves changed their strategy. Instead of going for the warriors directly, they circled around to attack the horse causing it to flee even faster. The reins connecting it to the sled strained and stretched, unable to keep up with the terrified animal.

"Guys, we're running out of snow!"

It was true. The ground in front of them dipped into an enormous gorge; and with a final pull, the sleigh broke free of its mount. No longer bound, the horse fled in the opposite direction. While that was going on, the largest wolf of all, apparently the pack's leader, closed in on the three.

"Everyone JUMP!"

They managed to get free just in time, for the sled careened over the cliff side and crashed into the ground below. Fortunately, the three landed on the other side, shaken but uninjured. UNfortunately, so did the leader and two other wolves.

Sora recovered first, the other two had plowed into a snowbank, and brandished his Keyblade. Not wanting to risk being dog piled, he punched the crest on his right shoulder.

"Master form!"

A burst of energy flew from his body and knocked the beasts back. He felt the familiar sense of power flowing around him; his vision would fade out then rush back in, and two more Keyblades would appear alongside him increasing his speed and power and even letting him fly. The only downside to this was that Donald and Goofy would vanish until the form wore off. Already, his senses were returning to him, and he looked down to see….

….That his body and clothing had vanished into a black mass of gooey flesh. It had been Antiform that had activated instead. A penalty for overusing the drive forms, Anti-form forcibly morphed him into a humanoid Heartless, reminiscent of the brief time he'd spent as one in Hallow Bastion. Whenever that happened, his attacks became much more agile and feral, but he lost access to the Keyblade. Seeing how the wolves wouldn't wait until the form powered down, he'd just have to make the best of it.

On instinct, he sprung forward, tackling the nearest wolf. They rolled about on the ground with each one trying to maintain dominance. Anti Sora managed to find enough leverage and kicked his opponent off of him, sending it crashing into a nearby tree. Not giving him a chance to rest, the other two pounced, a giant mass of fur and fangs.

Their teeth sank into his flesh, and their claws cut through his skin. When the violent struggle ended, Anti Sora saw that he'd managed to incapacitate the second wolf. But his relief was short-lived as the leader, enraged at the loss of its brethren, circled around him, waiting for him to tire. Just then, Sora felt Antiform dissipate around him and saw that he'd returned to human form. He looked all around to regain his bearings…and realized something was horribly wrong.

Donald and Goofy hadn't reappeared. He punched the crest again. Nothing happened. They'd either been separated from him, or he hadn't fully turned back. But there wasn't any time to think about that now; the wolf leader found a second wind and attacked again.

"Augh!" another claw slashed across his torso, cutting through human flesh instead of Heartless skin, and left a nasty gash behind. He fell to the ground clutching his chest, unable to fight any further. Above him, the beast licked its lips in hungry anticipation and prepared the final blow. It opened its mouth, the moonlight glistening off of each of its fangs, and sprung….

…Only to be hit in mid-leap by a thrown sword. The wolf staggered back, mortally wounded. It turned and ran away, dripping blood as it fled.

Princess Anna of Arendelle retrieved her fallen weapon and cleaned off the wolf blood. Her task complete, she turned to Sora with a steely look in her eyes.

"Are you all right?"

The girl he'd called useless had just saved his life; in the face of such a humbling experience, the boy would have almost preferred being wolf meat. As it was, he shot his gaze down deliberately avoiding eye contact.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine."

She wasn't convinced instead looking downright irritated, "Look at me."

He was too ashamed to respond and kept staring down.

"I said **look at me.**" Her voice was sharp and full of regal authority; the boy snapped to attention.

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Do you know what I just did?"

"You…saved my life."

"Indeed. And do you have any further doubts about my lack of prowess?"

"No Ma'am."

"Good," she handed him a potion that he gratefully chugged down, "Elsa's still missing. We need to find her and get her to stop the winter. Since we don't have a sled anymore, we'll have to travel on foot. We leave immediately and will not stop until summer has returned. Do we understand each other?"

Sora was just grateful that she hadn't sealed him into some kind of life debt. "Understood, Miss."

"Great!" All that regality disappeared behind the most gleeful smile he'd ever seen. She turned and began dragging him uphill, "This is so cool! I've never fought wolves before! What kinds of creatures have you fought? What other places have you been to? Are you from another world? Who were the dog and duck I saw earlier? Does it ever snow where you live? Do you ever build snowmen?"

_Ugh, what have I gotten myself into?_

(_Within Elsa's Palace_)

"Are you sure this will work?" The Queen and the Fairy had begun their "training."

"If you possess the power needed to do so, then yes."

"All right then." Elsa concentrated hard, and an orb of ice appeared over her hand. Experimentally, she flexed her fingers which in turn caused the sphere to expand and contract in time with the movements. Transfixed by her progress, she didn't notice Maleficent rubbing her finger and thumb together, as if applying seasoning to food. The ice orb faltered for a moment, rapidly expanded to the size of a grapefruit, then exploded, flinging shards all over the room.

"Another failure. Unfortunate." Though she feigned sympathy, the Mistress of Evil suppressed a wicked grin. While the techniques she had given the girl were indeed genuine, it had only taken a few small pushes to sabotage her efforts, leaving her crestfallen. Even better, each failure left her more afraid of losing control; soon the transformation would begin.

Elsa knelt on the ground, wiping away hot tears of frustration. Whether at home or in the mountains, she couldn't seem to control her curse. "I don't understand. Why can't I get it to work properly?"

"Hmm. It would seem that I cannot help you after all. Such a pity."

"No wait!" Desperation crawled into the poor girl's voice, "D-don't leave. I can do this. I can!"

Seizing the opportunity, Maleficent activated her staff once again, "If this is to succeed, you must follow me wholeheartedly."

**"****I will follow you wholeheartedly."**

"You will follow my instructions without question."

**"****I will follow your instructions."**

"And you will trust no one other than me."

**"****I…will…trust**—but my sister Anna—"

The staff glowed even brighter and the Wicked One couldn't stay calm, "You will trust NO ONE but me!"

**"****I will trust no one but you."**

Even after the scepter had returned to normal, Elsa remained entranced for some time afterward, her eyes glowing sickly green. Leaving her to stew upon her new instructions, the evil fairy went for a walk outside the frozen castle, where she was found by her raven familiar. He cawed in her ear several times, and her eyes narrowed maliciously.

"The Keywielder is here? Curses! He must not be allowed to intervene!" But he always did. Those chosen by the Keyblade had made a habit of foiling her plans; she still remembered her encounters with Eraqus's pupils, and the thoughts filled her with fury. But then, in a moment of clarity, she got an idea. Maleficent got a horrible, awful idea. Why not use Sora's great compassion to her advantage? Why if she played her cards right, he could end up being the one to push Arendelle's ruler over the edge. She would have a powerful Heartless to command and demoralize her greatest enemy in one fell swoop. With a sinister grin, she began formulating her plan.

(End of Chapter)

_A/N: It was only after writing this that I realized how twisted I've made Maleficent. Much like with Riku, she's playing off of Elsa's emotions and subtly turning her to the darkness. Admittedly, getting rid of Donald and Goofy was kind of a cop-out because I really don't know how to write them. But I figured this way that we can really establish a connection between Sora and Anna. Go with what works I guess._

_Now I have some questions for you guys: how well am I doing with keeping everyone in-character? How well did I construct the fight scene with the wolves? And what do you think will happen when our heroes meet the villain? _


End file.
